[lee.ralph]

Hi Guys,

Believe it or not, i've been a user (reader) of this forum for the past few years, making use of the search function :-) and not made one single post - good work guys.

I'm finally going to upgrade my hardware from an original XBOX to a HTPC with HD capability.

It would be much appreciated if someone could validate/ comment on my hardware choices:

Barebones case: http://us.shuttle.com/barebone/Models/SH55J2.html
RAM: will get 4GB
CPU: Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz Socket 1156 4MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
Hard drive & optical drive: I already have these

Many thanks,

Lee

[atari800]

That is powerful stuff you are using

I am using an Apple TV 1 with a CrystalHD card in it....
Basically that is:
1Ghz Pentium M (single core) processor
256 meg of ram
*Onboard NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 graphics processor with 64 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM.
40 gig hard drive
...This alone can do 720p with no problem
Broadcom CrystalHD .... allows this to decode everything upto 1080p

I paid about $65 for Apple tv on Amazon
and about $40 for the CrystalHD from Logic Supply

and I got 1 machine that houses all of my movies on USB and also is my MYSQL server and my PlayOn server

*AppleTv in Living room, bedrooms and guestroom
----
I did have Dell Inspiron 530
Quad core over clocked to 3 Ghz, 8 gig ram, ATI 5850 video card
Shared TV from desktop

Computer gave me DVD player and few other goodies. But I didnt want to put power house machines in each room

[lee.ralph]

firstly, thanks for your reply.

just to clarify i've not purchased the mobo, CPU, or RAM yet - just looking for advice really.

i did also find an entry level barebones pc: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/222816 - though this does not have HDMI out

perhaps apple TV is a viable option for me, i've been v. happy with the original XBOX TBH, but just need to get something quieter, HD capable and more compact and modern looking.

Lee

[atari800]

I hope you (or anyone) does not think I was making an opinion AGAINST a pc for HTPC. Powerful or not.
I just wanted to give my opinion and tell you what I have running which I am very pleased with.

The APPLE TV's are "dual boot" so to speak, as I have UBUNTU Linux running on them (with usb stick drive attached) or back to APPLE TV mode (with no usb stick attached).
Linux mode run far more smoother and in true 1080p when running XBMC. Apple tv mode runs it in 720p.

As far as speed/performance goes...
Apple TV 2 (slowest interface and 720p is as high as I could get)... This is my friends
Apple TV 1 Normal Apple TV mode (720p is highest but performance is faster than ATV2)
APPLE TV 1 Ubuntu Mode (extremely fast on all skins and no problems with any movies I own)

---
I have Wall-E, Burn-E, Matrix 1-3 All in 1080p and they run fine over network
*I do have 3 test files from some thread on this forum that people had problems with that I do experience problems as well.
---

Apple tv 1 is very small form facotr - about the size of a router, or a typical cable modem

[lee.ralph]

Just to help me decide what to buy, are you saying that the first generation apple tv performs better than the ATV2?

I could only assume that this is because XBMC has been refined over the years for ATV1.

Thanks,

Lee

[lee.ralph]

Actually rethinking this and wanting a HTPC with optical drive (for DVDs) I would like to ask if the following kit is sufficient for 1080p running XBMC:

- Intel Pentium Dual Core E6600 Socket 775 3.06GHz 1066FSB 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

- Shuttle SG41J1 Plus XPC Barebone for SKT775 Intel CPUs

Integrated Graphics
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 (GMA X4500)
Supports Microsoft DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0 und OpenGL 2.0
Supports Intel Clear Video Technology with ProcAmp color control
Maximum DVI resolution: 2048x1536
Max. shared video memory size (UMA): 1759MB**)

- Kingston 4GB DDR3 1066MHz Memory Non-ECC CL7 1.5V

I'll go for the ATV2 for the bedroom.

Thanks guys.

Lee

[.:B:.]

You can get a cheap platform. Even an Atom, but performance-wise I would take an entry-level regular x86 that isn't as handicaped as an Atom - say, an Intel G6950.

Take a cheap entry-level Intel or AMD CPU (preferably dualcore), and get an equally entry-level nVidia GPU so you can use VDPAU. With GPU-accelerated video decoding you don't need any oomph whatsoever. You can make do with a very basic setup. I think 2 GB RAM would be plenty btw, but that all depends on what else you want that box to do. Xbmc certainly doesn't need that much RAM. A Zacate setup might be interesting, but I'm afraid ATi's GPU support on Linux isn't close to nVidia's, so it's risky to bet on an ATi GPU for hardware acceleration for now.

As for the ATV1 vs ATV2, if you have the chance I'd definitely go for an ATV1 + CrystalHD (the BCM970015 model though, not the BCM970012 one). The ATV1 is plain x86, the ATV2 is ARM afaik, and your hacking possibilities on the ATV2 are rather limited.

[atari800]

@B:
I have seen both perform..
Atv1 with Broadcom crystalhd is much faster than atv2
Atv2 downscales 1080 movies to 720 as well

[lee.ralph]

so i'm going to go for the below for the living room htpc:

- Intel Pentium Dual Core E6600 Socket 775 3.06GHz 1066FSB 2MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor

- Shuttle SG41J1 Plus XPC Barebone for SKT775 Intel CPUs

Integrated Graphics
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 (GMA X4500)
Supports Microsoft DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0 und OpenGL 2.0
Supports Intel Clear Video Technology with ProcAmp color control
Maximum DVI resolution: 2048x1536

Max. shared video memory size (UMA): 1759MB**)

- Kingston 4GB DDR3 1066MHz Memory Non-ECC CL7 1.5V

though from what i've been reading the onboard graphics card won't support 1080p (blu-ray) as it's not powerfull enough?

i guess i can give it a go and if it stutters then i can get an "entry level" PICE Nvidia GPU, would the following suffice?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/240886

Many thanks for taking the time to comment - finally time to move away from that existing xbox hardware

Lee

Lee